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Hurricanes impacting Averitt's services

Even though Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have affected people thousands of miles away, the impacts are being felt on the local level in a multitude of ways.

From oil refineries being shut down to delivery of goods, the impacts are starting to trickle down.

Local trucking company Averitt Express has been dealing with the effects of Harvey in Houston and surrounding area.

"We have a well-trained operations team that makes adjustments when catastrophic events like Harvey and Irma hit," Greg LaPlant, internal communications leader with Averitt Express said.

In cases like this, the company's first concern is the safety of every associate in the affected areas.

"We make sure we are closely communicating with every associate before and after the storm," he said. "We want to make sure they know their personal well-being comes first and that we are supporting them in every way possible."

There are also contingency plans in place to keep the freight moving.

"Freight that is bound for an area impacted by this kind of weather is held at the origin site until it's safe to deliver to its final destination," he said. "Once the storm has passed, it's common for our associates to volunteer to temporarily transfer from their home location to the affected area to provide necessary support to serve our customers."

The customer is not left out of this either. Averitt officials use a wide range of technology, systems and processes to make sure customers are informed of the status of their shipments so they can plan accordingly.

"Fortunately, we did not have significant damage at the Texas facilities," he said. "At times, the parking lot of our Houston service center was under four feet of water."

The Houston service center was closed from Aug. 28-Sept. 5, while Corpus Christi started operating on a limited basis on Aug. 29. Beaumont is open on a limited basis.

"Our service is limited based on how soon roads can be re-opened," he said. "We're usually able to be up and running prior to roads being cleared for transport."

Averitt is helping those affected by the storms. The associate-funded charity, Averitt Cares for Kids, recently made a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross to assist in relief efforts.

"Due to numerous requests from associates all across our network, we also set up a special fund for them to contribute to, which will go directly to the 30 Averitt associates whose property was severely damaged or wiped out by the flooding," he said. "We also typically work with kids of charitable-giving organizations to move relief supplies to affected areas."